


what's in a name?

by OfAllTheStarsAligned



Category: RWBY
Genre: Mercury Branwen AU, Name Changes, Post Redemption Arc, Qrow adopts Mercury, mercury and yang are friends gauntlets and greaves dont look at me, this is probably like. just before leaving for vacuo?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfAllTheStarsAligned/pseuds/OfAllTheStarsAligned
Summary: After redeeming himself in the eyes of Team RWBY, Mercury considers the idea of letting go of his past completely.
Relationships: Mercury Black & Qrow Branwen
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	what's in a name?

Mercury sat on the couch with his Scroll, notepad open and wrote the same two words over and over again.

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury_

Mercury huffed, staring at the writing with disdain. His last name had always bothered him, but any attempt to change it came up rewardless. A lack of last name bothered him as well. He couldn't just be _Mercury_.

"Hey Merc, what're you up to?"

A turn of his head and Yang stood behind him, leaning her forearms against the couch.

“Oh, hey Yang. Nothing much, just,” Mercury said with a slight frown as he turned back to his Scroll, “thinking.”

“Well, that’s not good,” Yang said as she vaulted over the couch and sat next to Mercury. She leaned over to peer at his Scroll. “Practicing your signature?”

“No, I think I want to change my name.”

Yang raised her eyebrow, “Change your name?”

“Yeah, I want to,” Mercury waved his hands awkwardly, “I don’t know. Let go of the past, I guess? I’ve never really liked my last name anyways.”

Yang frowned a bit and nodded, “Right, I get that. So, what are you thinking of changing it to?”

Mercury sighed as he leaned further into the couch as he said, “I have no idea. I can’t think of anything I like.”

With a hum, Yang rested her chin in her hand, still looking at Mercury’s Scroll. 

Mercury continued to write his name, over and over.

_Black_

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury Black_

Footsteps in the hall caught Mercury and Yang's attention. Jaune rounded the corner and paused in the doorway when he noticed them.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" he asked.

"Mercury wants to change his last name, but isn't sure what to."

Jaune smiled a bit and sat down on the other side of Mercury. "Have any ideas?"

Mercury groaned and flopped his head against the couch again, "No."

"Well," Jaune started, "what about Arc? I think Mercury Arc has a nice ring to it."

Yang snickered a bit and Mercury smiled, lightly shoving Jaune's shoulder.

"Maybe. I'm not sure about anything yet."

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury Arc_

_Mercury Arc_

_Mercury Black_

Yang reached over and wrote on Mercury's Scroll.

_Mercury Xiao Long_

Mercury smiled a bit.

_Mercury Xiao Long_

_Mercury Black_

_Mercury Black_

Jaune hummed in thought, chin in between his fingers. "Oh!"

Yang smiled a bit, "Have an idea?"

"Yeah," Jaune said as he leaned over to write on Mercury's Scroll.

_Mercury Branwen_

Mercury's eyes widened for a moment.

_Mercury Branwen_

_Mercury Branwen_

_Mercury Branwen_

Jaune shrugged a bit, "I mean, he's already kind of like our group dad?"

"I like it," Mercury said simply.

_Mercury Branwen_

"Do you think he'd be okay with it?" Mercury asked as he turned to Yang.

She shrugged, "Probably? I guess you should ask him."

"You really like it?" Jaune smiled and asked, clearly proud of himself.

Mercury nodded as he wrote it again, "Yeah, I do. I just hope he's okay with it."

_Mercury Branwen_

Footsteps in the hall again. The three kids looked over to the door to see Qrow walk by, slightly hunched over as he typed out a message on his Scroll. As he left their eyesight, Yang and Jaune started thumping Mercury on the back and pushing him.

"Go, go ask him now," Yang said at the same time as Jaune's "There he is, go."

With the shoves, Mercury quickly stood from the couch and slid his Scroll into his back pocket. He rushed over to the door, grabbing the frame with his hand and swinging himself in the direction Qrow went.

"Qrow!" he said, then winced slightly at his own volume.

Qrow jolted a bit at the sudden call, standing up straight before he stopped and turned around. "Mercury? What's wrong?" he asked as he put his Scroll into his pocket.

"Nothing's wrong, I just... wanted to ask you something," Mercury said as he moved closer to Qrow, wringing his hands from nerves.

"You're sure you're okay?" 

Mercury just nodded. "I wanted to... I mean, I was thinking about, well..." he trailed off, feeling his face heat up.

Qrow gave him a small, kind smile; quiet encouragement to take his time and keep going.

A small, hopeful smile rose on Mercury's face. "I want to change my last name."

"Oh," Qrow's eyebrows rose and Mercury could see the gears turning in his head, "of course. Do you need help with that? What were you thinking of changing it to?"

"Yeah, I'll need help with it and... uh," Mercury paused, scanning his eyes over Qrow's face, "I wanted... I wanted to change it to Branwen."

Qrow froze and his eyes widened as he stared at Mercury, "Mine...?"

"Well... yeah, it was Jaune's idea actually, but I really like it. You've been more of a father to me than...," Mercury stopped for a moment, briefly looking away before returning his eyes to Qrow, "well, you know."

Mercury continued, Qrow still quiet, "and I really like the sound of it, Mercury Branwen. So, I guess I'm asking if that's okay?"

"Of course," Qrow said.

Mercury's heart leapt, "Really?"

Qrow smiled and nodded, tears starting to brim in his eyes, "Yeah, but how about we just go all the way?"

"What?"

"Well, you already said I'm like a father to you, so," Qrow gently placed his hands on Mercury's shoulders, "what if I officially adopt you? Really make you my son."

Mercury's eyes widened, staring at Qrow in complete amazement, "Really? You'd really... do that?"

Qrow nodded, "We can go talk to James, I can adopt you, get your last name changed. All of it."

Mercury continued to stare for a moment, before he surged forward and wrapped Qrow in a tight hug. "Please," he said simply as he tucked his face into the crook of Qrow's shoulder to hide his tears.

Qrow hummed softly as he wrapped his arms around Mercury in return, resting his head against his. "I'll do everything in my power to be the best dad for you, kiddo."

"You don't need to change anything, then. You're already infinitely better."

The hug got tighter on both ends, holding each other close. This was the first paternal hug Mercury had ever gotten, one actually filled with love and kindness, not threats and too tight grips meant as warnings.

When they finally pulled themselves out of the hug, wiping their own tears, Mercury smiled. "I'm going to go tell Yang and Jaune."

"Alright, afterwards come and meet me in James's office and we'll get this going," Qrow said as he patted Mercury's head, ruffling his hair.

"Okay, see you in a bit!" Mercury said, before he turned and started to walk back to the lounge. Then, he paused and turned back towards Qrow, "Dad."

Qrow smiled in return and gave him a joking little bow. 

Mercury grinned, turned, and then sprinted to the lounge, grabbing the door frame and swinging into the room.

Yang and Jaune still sat on the couch, waiting for him, and looked up when he returned.

"Hey," Yang said, "everything go okay?"

Jaune frowned a bit, "Yeah, you're...." he motioned to his eyes.

Mercury blushed a bit and quickly wiped his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, great actually."

"He said yes?" Yang asked as she jumped up from the couch in excitement.

Mercury nodded, "He said... He said he's going to adopt me! He's really going to be my dad!"

"Seriously? That's amazing!" Jaune said as he stood from the couch, going over with Yang to hug Mercury.

"Hey, now you'll be my and Ruby's cousin, you know!" 

Tears welled up in his eyes again, "Yeah," Mercury noticed their concerned looks and gave them a small smile, "I'm okay, I'm just really happy."

Yang and Jaune smiled and squeezed Mercury tighter.

"Okay, Mercury Branwen."

Mercury laughed a bit, "I'm not Mercury Branwen just yet, Qrow and I are going to talk to the General about what he can do to help Qrow adopt me."

Jaune smiled, "Then go, we'll gather everyone up and we can celebrate."

"Okay, okay," Mercury said as he pulled out of the hug with Yang and Jaune, "next time you see me, I'll officially be Mercury Branwen!"

With that, he gave them finger guns and went to the General's office as fast as he could. 

A few hours later, he was Mercury Branwen and he had an amazing Dad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate all comments and kudos!


End file.
